Methods and systems for processing and managing telephonic communications

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to online and offline communication processing and tracking using data processing and data/voice networks. A phone address is automatically assigned to a first entity. A call quality rating is determined and recorded. A call from a caller directed to the phone address is received at a call bridging system coupled to at least one network, wherein the call is associated with call signaling information. Based at least in part on the call quality associated with the caller call, the caller call is assigned to a first location in a call queue. An outbound call is generated from the call bridging system and the inbound and the outbound calls are bridged. One or more parameters of the bridged call are compared to the call quality rating. An indication is recorded regarding the successful bridging of the calls in association with a first entity identifier.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/095,255 filed Sep. 8, 2008, U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/107,269, filed Oct. 21, 2008, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/161,654, filed Mar. 19, 2009, thecontents of which are incorporated herein in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED R&D

Not applicable.

PARTIES OF JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, TABLE, OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING

Not applicable.

COPYRIGHT RIGHTS

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patentdocument or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent andTrademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves allcopyright rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods for communicationtracking and processing, and in particular, to methods and systems fortracking and processing phone communications, emails and/or othercorrespondence information.

BACKGROUND

Certain conventional systems provide for on-line initiated calls,sometimes referred to as “click-to-call”. Click-to-call provides usersaccessing a web page including an advertisement with a dialogue boxwhich requests the user's phone number and occasionally otherinformation such as name and an affiliate code the user is requested totranscribe from the website. When provided, the number is transmitted tothe advertiser along with the affiliate's contact information forcommission purposes. The advertiser calls the user back, and any sale isconsummated over the telephone.

The foregoing conventional solution has not been well received by theonline advertising community for several reasons. First, it iscounter-intuitive for users to send their phone number to theadvertiser, when it is the user who wants to call the advertiser. When auser wants to call an advertiser, he or she generally wants to pick uphis or her phone and actually call the advertiser. He or she doesn'twant to send the advertiser his or her number and wait for a call back.Users are also wary of sending their telephone number to an advertiserusing these types of dialogue boxes because of online fraud. Also, bythe time the call is returned, the user might have lost interest inbuying the product, or had already purchased the item elsewhere. Whenalternative advertising models are considered (such as television andnewspaper which represent the vast majority of advertising dollarsspent), the click-to-call functionality cannot be used. As a result ofthese deficiencies, the click-to-call mechanism has limited utility.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Methods and systems are described for facilitating communication-relatedtracking and processing.

A given embodiment may include some or all of the features,functionality, systems and methods described herein.

An example embodiment provides a method of processing calls, comprising:automatically assigning a phone address to a first entity; recording incomputer readable memory call quality rating criteria; receiving at acall bridging system coupled to at least one network, a call from acaller directed to the phone address wherein the call is associated withcall signaling information; based at least in part on one or more callquality indicators associated with the caller call, assigning the callercall to a first location in a call queue; generating an outbound callfrom the call bridging system; bridging the inbound and the outboundcall; comparing parameters of the caller call and/or the bridged call tothe call quality rating criteria; and recording an indication of thesuccessful bridging of the calls in association with a first entityidentifier.

An example embodiment provides a method of processing calls, comprising:assigning a phone address to an advertising campaign in response to arequest received over a data network; storing in computer memory callquality rating criteria; receiving at a call bridging system coupled toat least one network, a call from a caller directed to the phone addresswherein the call is associated with call signaling information;generating an outbound call from the call bridging system; bridging theinbound and the outbound call; comparing one or more parameters of thereceived call and/or the bridged call to the call quality ratingcriteria; and crediting the affiliate for the bridged call based atleast in part on the comparison of the one or more parameters with thecall quality rating criteria.

An example embodiment provides a method of processing call information,comprising: storing in computer readable memory call quality ratingcriteria; receiving at a call bridging system coupled to at least onenetwork, a request over a data network from a user to receive a call;generating at the call bridging system a first outbound call to theuser; generating a second outbound call from the call bridging system;bridging the first and second outbound calls; comparing one or moreparameters of the received call and/or the bridged call to the callquality rating criteria; and crediting an affiliate for the bridged callbased at least in part on the comparison of the one or more parameterswith the call quality rating criteria.

An example embodiment provides a method of phone communications,comprising: creating an information object in a server system; storingthe information object in computer readable memory; assigning a phoneaddress to the information object; making available the informationobject from an affiliate server to an advertiser server over a datanetwork in response to a user gesture with respect to a web page;enabling the display of the phone address to the user on an advertiser'sweb page; receiving at a call bridging system coupled to at least onenetwork, a call from the user directed to the phone address, wherein thecall is associated with call signaling information; generating anoutbound call from the call bridging system to a number specified by theadvertiser; bridging the inbound and the outbound call; and creditingthe affiliate with respect to the bridged call.

An example embodiment provides a method of processing telecommunicationscomprising: assigning a phone address for use with an advertisingcampaign; receiving at a call bridging system coupled to at least onenetwork, a call from a caller directed to the phone address; generatingan outbound call from the call bridging system to a number specified inan advertising campaign; bridging the inbound and the outbound call toform a bridged call; monitoring one or more call parameters; comparingone or more call parameters against a set of threshold values thatincludes at least one threshold value; rejecting at least one subsequentcall to the phone address based on the comparison exceeding a firstthreshold value; and crediting an affiliate for non-rejected bridgedcalls and inhibiting crediting the affiliate for rejected calls.

An example embodiment provides a method of tracking and crediting callrelated information, comprising: assigning a phone address for use withan advertising campaign; storing in a tangible computer readable mediumcall quality rating criteria; receiving at a call bridging systemcoupled to at least one network, a call from a caller directed to thephone address; based at least in part on the phone address called, playa selected voice prompt to the caller; generating an outbound call fromthe call bridging system based at least in part on a caller's responseto one or more voice prompts and a phone address specified by theadvertiser; bridging the inbound and the outbound call; comparing one ormore parameters of the caller cal and/or the bridged call to the callquality rating criteria; and crediting an affiliate for the bridged callbased at least in part of the comparison.

An example embodiment provides a tangible computer-readable mediumhaving computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executedby a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a methodcomprising: assigning a phone address to an advertising campaign inresponse to a request received over a data network; storing in computermemory call quality rating criteria; receiving a call from a callerdirected to the phone address wherein the call is associated with callsignaling information; initiating an outbound call; causing the inboundand the outbound call to be connected; comparing one or more parametersof the received call and/or the connected call to the call qualityrating criteria; and crediting an affiliate for the connected call basedat least in part on the comparison of the one or more parameters withthe call quality rating criteria. Certain embodiments provide systemsand methods for routing calls to promotional phone numbers (such aspromotional phone numbers, which may be any form of phone addressincluding numbers and/or other characters) to destination phone numbers,such as those associated with an advertiser. Optionally, promotionalphone numbers may be dynamically generated and rapidly provisioned toaffiliates of the advertisers.

Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for routing, such asrouting communications associated with certain email addresses (e.g.,promotional email addresses), URLs (e.g., promotional URLs), and othercontact information to destination email addresses, URL'S and contactinformation. Certain embodiments providing systems and methods forsending SMS messages to a customer, affiliate, or advertiser arepresented.

In certain example embodiments, an intuitive and user friendly interfaceis optionally provided that enables users to quickly and easily enterinto and monitor advertising campaigns and transactions.

In certain example embodiments, a marketing and/or sales campaign isused. In a campaign, a provider of a product or service employs acollection of online and/or offline advertising practices to promotetheir product or service. Optionally the campaign can have a fixed orvariable budget, a specified sales period (e.g., 6 months), and a targetcustomer. Other campaign attributes are described below.

In certain example embodiments, campaign creation systems and methodsare provided which enable users, such as advertisers or their agents, togenerate new advertising campaigns, and enable other users, such asaffiliates, to view and apply to these campaigns. In certain exampleembodiments, systems and methods are provided for approving campaigns.An affiliate may be an entity that is rewarded by an advertiser for avisitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts.For example, an affiliate may have a Website that promotes the servicesor products of another party. As discussed elsewhere herein, theaffiliate Website may include an advertisement for another business (theadvertiser), including a user interface for initiating a call or othercommunication with the advertiser.

In certain example embodiments, advertisers and/or third party agents ofadvertisers assign phone numbers for direct media placements that don'tinclude affiliates and don't trigger commissions. Optionally,advertisers and/or third party agents track affiliate and non-affiliatecampaigns using a single user interface and/or account.

In certain example embodiments, advertisers and/or third party agents ofadvertisers generate more than one advertising campaigns. Optionally,multiple campaigns and/or accounts can be joined or linked to simplifyaccount access and administration (e.g., master account login withtoggle access to other accounts).

In certain example embodiments, advertisers and/or third party agents ofadvertisers provide (e.g., upload) a collection of call records (e.g., alist of phone numbers) evaluated by the system using a collection ofdatabases to determine expected costs of an advertising campaigns,recommended affiliate pricing of advertising campaigns, criteria to beused in establishing call quality, which advertising campaigns to targetto which set of customers/users, which offer to provide which set ofcustomers/users, media placement, etc.

In certain example embodiments, advertisers and/or third party agents ofadvertisers provide (e.g., upload) a collection of advertiser phoneaddresses (e.g., local or toll-free phone addresses) evaluated by thesystem using a collection of databases to determine which phoneaddresses will perform optimally in which campaigns. For example, avanity toll-free number may out perform a local number (e.g., presents alarger corporate image) on a given offer. In another example, the systemevaluates different toll-free vanity numbers on a given offer.

In certain example embodiments, a call price calculator and methods areprovided that can be utilized to calculate and suggest call pricingvalues for users, such as advertisers. In certain example embodiments,systems and methods are provided for determining call quality. Callquality relates to whether a potential customer is likely to purchasegoods or services from the advertiser. Thus, determining call qualitymay include determining the likelihood that a potential customer willpurchase goods or services from the advertiser.

Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for creating interactivevoice systems that sit in front of the call before transferring to theadvertiser's call center. Certain embodiments provide systems andmethods for using call quality to selectively direct calls to certainphone addresses or messages to terminals or to affect the place of acall in a phone queue. Certain embodiments provide systems and methodsfor setting which campaigns particular affiliates can view. Certainembodiments provide systems and methods for generating dynamic softwarecode so that websites, text messages and other such displays (e.g.,promotional communications) can dynamically display a promotional phonenumber, email, URL, and/or other contact information. Optionally, thephone number, email, URL, and/or other contact information may bedifferent from the corresponding contact information which is consideredthe default for such websites, text messages, or other promotionaldisplays.

Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for validating that anaffiliate is registered with the affiliate network's website. Thisoptionally enables an advertiser to prevent an affiliate from promotinga campaign that the advertiser does not want promoted. Certainembodiments provide systems and methods for enabling a user, such as anadvertiser, to set the time or duration the affiliate promotionalcontact information may be used. Certain embodiments provide systems andmethods for the advertiser or the affiliate to use click-to-callfunctionality in their websites. Certain embodiments provide systems andmethods for enabling an advertiser to promote their own brand or websitewithout an affiliate through the issuance of promotional phone numbersor other contact information by issuing the advertiser their ownpromotional contact information. Certain embodiments provide systems andmethods for generating advertising creatives which may include theintegration of promotional contact information. Optionally, thepromotional contact information may be placed in the meta data of thecreative, edited into the image of the creative directly, or attached tothe top, bottom or side of the creative as a sidebar, hover, orslide-out.

One embodiment is a method of tracking and crediting promotional leadscomprising: receiving at a call bridging system, a call from a callerdirected to a phone address; generating an outbound call from the callbridging system; bridging the inbound and the outbound call; andsometimes comparing parameters of the bridged call to a call qualityrating.

Another embodiment is a method of tracking and crediting promotionalleads comprising: assigning a phone address; establishing a call qualityrating for calls; receiving at a call bridging system coupled to atleast one network, a call from a caller directed to the phone addresswherein the call is associated with call signaling information;generating an outbound call from the call bridging system; bridging theinbound and the outbound call; sometimes comparing parameters of thebridged call to the call quality rating; and crediting an affiliate forthe bridged call. Optionally, wherein the phone address is a toll-freephone number. Optionally, wherein the network comprises a publicswitched telephone network for both wireless and wireline communicationsand public and private data networks. Optionally, the method furthercomprising: recording at least a portion of the call audio; and makingat least a portion of the recording available to an affiliate network oradvertiser. Optionally, the method further comprising: recognizing wordsand/or phrases in the caller voice communication; comparing words and/orphrases from the first voice communication to a set of keywords and/orphrases; and if there is a match, storing in computer memory thedetection of a keyword and/or phrase. Optionally, the method furthercomprising: comparing the calling party phone address in the callsignaling information with the calling party phone address of previouscalls in a configurable time period; and if there is a match, creditingthe affiliate a default amount or an amount specified by the advertiser.Optionally, wherein the amount credited to an affiliate on a match is nocredit amount.

Another embodiment is a method of tracking and crediting promotionalleads in an affiliate network comprising: receiving at a call bridgingsystem, a request from a user to receive a call; generating at the callbridging system a first outbound call to the user; generating a secondoutbound call from the call bridging system; bridging the first andsecond outbound calls; and sometimes comparing parameters of the bridgedcall to a call quality rating.

Another embodiment is a method of tracking and crediting promotionalleads in an affiliate network comprising: establishing a call qualityrating; receiving at a call bridging system coupled to at least onenetwork, a request from a user to receive a call; generating at the callbridging system a first outbound call to the user; generating a secondoutbound call from the call bridging system; bridging the first andsecond outbound calls; comparing parameters of the bridged call to thecall quality rating; and crediting an affiliate for the bridged call.Optionally, wherein the request from the user to receive a call is inresponse to the selection of a web page control. Optionally, wherein thenetwork comprises a public switched telephone network for both wirelessand wireline communications and public and private data networks.Optionally, the method further comprising: recording at least a portionof the call audio; and making at least a portion of the recordingavailable to an affiliate network or advertiser. Optionally, the methodfurther comprising: recognizing words and/or phrases in the caller voicecommunication; comparing words and/or phrases from the first voicecommunication to a set of keywords and/or phrases; and if there is amatch, storing in computer memory the detection of a keyword and/orphrase. Optionally, the method further comprising: comparing the user'sphone address with the calling party phone address of previous calls ina configurable time period; and if there is a match, crediting theaffiliate a default amount or an amount specified by the advertiser.Optionally, wherein the amount credited to an affiliate on a match is nocredit amount.

Another embodiment is a method of managing promotional leads comprising:creating an information object; assigning a phone address to theinformation object; exchanging the information object from an affiliateto an advertiser in response to a user gesture on a web page; anddisplaying the phone address to the user on an advertiser's web page.

Another embodiment is a method of managing promotional leads comprising:creating an information object in a server system; storing theinformation object in computer readable memory; assigning a phoneaddress to the information object; exchanging the information objectfrom an affiliate server to an advertiser server over a data network inresponse to a user gesture on a web page; and displaying the phoneaddress to the user on an advertiser's web page. Optionally, the methodfurther comprising: receiving at a call bridging system coupled to atleast one network, a call from the user directed to the phone address,wherein the call is associated with call signaling information;generating an outbound call from the call bridging system to a numberspecified by the advertiser; bridging the inbound and the outbound call;and crediting the affiliate for the bridged call. Optionally, whereinthe information object is an affiliate information object. Optionally,wherein the information object is web-based. Optionally, the methodfurther comprising: receiving at a call bridging system coupled to adata and voice network, a request from the user to receive a call;generating at the call bridging system a first outbound call to theuser; generating a second outbound call from the call bridging system toa number specified by the advertiser; bridging the first and secondoutbound calls; and crediting an affiliate for the bridged call.

Another embodiment is a method of monitoring promotional leads for fraudcomprising: assigning a phone address; receiving at a call bridgingsystem, a call from a caller directed to the phone address; generatingan outbound call from the call bridging system; bridging the inbound andthe outbound call to form a bridged call; monitoring call parameters;comparing one or more call parameters against a set of threshold values;and rejecting at least one subsequent call to the phone address based onthe comparison exceeding a threshold value.

Another embodiment is a method of monitoring promotional leads for fraudcomprising: assigning a phone address; receiving at a call bridgingsystem coupled to at least one network, a call from a caller directed tothe phone address; generating an outbound call from the call bridgingsystem to a number specified in an advertising campaign; bridging theinbound and the outbound call to form a bridged call; monitoring callparameters; comparing one or more call parameters against a set ofthreshold values; rejecting at least one subsequent call to the phoneaddress based on the comparison exceeding a threshold value; andcrediting an affiliate for non-rejected bridged calls. Optionally,wherein a call parameter is the length of the call. Optionally, whereina caller hears ring no answer, busy, or a recorded announcement if thecall is rejected.

Another embodiment is a method of tracking and crediting promotionalleads comprising: assigning a phone address; receiving at a callbridging system, a call from a caller directed to the phone address;play a voice prompt to the caller; generating an outbound call from thecall bridging system based at least in part on the caller's response toone or more voice prompts and a phone address specified by theadvertiser; and bridging the inbound and the outbound call.

Another embodiment is a method of tracking and crediting promotionalleads comprising: assigning a phone address; establishing a call qualityrating; receiving at a call bridging system coupled to at least onenetwork, a call from a caller directed to the phone address; based atleast in part on the phone address called, the calling party phoneaddress, or other conditions as determined at least in part from thesephone addresses; play a voice prompt to the caller; generating anoutbound call from the call bridging system based at least in part onthe caller's response to one or more voice prompts and a phone addressspecified by the advertiser; bridging the inbound and the outbound call;and crediting an affiliate for the bridged call. Optionally, wherein thecaller's response is a generated dual-tone multi-frequency tone.Optionally, wherein the caller's response is a spoken command.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1: illustrates an example system architecture.

FIG. 2: is a second schematic view of an example embodiment of therelationship between the control center, affiliate network, affiliate,advertiser, and the consumer.

FIG. 3: is an illustration of an example embodiment of a login userinterface of the software platform.

FIG. 4: is an illustration of an example embodiment of the home screenof an advertiser.

FIG. 5: is an illustration of an example embodiment for viewing variouscampaigns and campaign information.

FIG. 6: is an illustration of an example embodiment for viewingadvertiser report information.

FIG. 7: is an illustration of an example embodiment for viewingalternate advertiser report information.

FIG. 8: is an illustration of an example embodiment for viewing ormodifying account settings.

FIG. 9: is an illustration of an example embodiment for logging out ofthe software platform.

FIG. 10: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates the overview submodule.

FIG. 11: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates a call pricing submodule.

FIG. 12: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates a call price calculator.

FIG. 13: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates a target regions submodule.

FIG. 14: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates the call treatment submodule utilizing thesingle destination routine.

FIG. 15: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates the target regions submodule utilizing theIVR routine.

FIG. 16: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates the hours of operation submodule.

FIG. 17: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates the target profile submodule in a collapsedview.

FIG. 18: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates the hours of operation submodule in anexpanded view.

FIG. 19: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates a keywords submodule.

FIG. 20: is an illustration of an example embodiment for creating a newcampaign which illustrates a creatives submodule.

FIG. 21: is an illustration of an example embodiment of the home screenof an affiliate.

FIG. 22: is an illustration of an example embodiment which illustratesthe campaign viewing module.

FIG. 23: is an illustration of an example embodiment which illustratesthe campaign acceptance module.

FIG. 24: is an illustration of an example embodiment which illustratesthe number selection submodule.

FIG. 25: is an illustration of an example embodiment which illustratesthe creative modification submodule.

FIG. 26: is an illustration of an example embodiment for viewing reportinformation of the affiliate.

FIG. 27: is an illustration of an example embodiment for viewingalternate report information of the affiliate.

FIG. 28: is an illustration of an example embodiment of the home screenof the affiliate network.

FIG. 29: is an illustration of an example embodiment which illustratesthe campaign visibility module of the affiliate network.

FIG. 30: is an illustration of an example embodiment which illustratesthe change affiliates submodule.

FIG. 31: is an illustration of an example embodiment which illustratesthe campaign visibility module of the affiliate.

FIG. 32: illustrates an example network operating environment for anetwork advertising and call bridging communications system.

FIGS. 33-38: illustrate an example operating environment/process for acommunications system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Methods and systems are described for facilitating communication-relatedtracking and processing.

FIG. 1: illustrates an example system architecture. As described herein,the illustrated system architecture can be used to facilitatetelephonic, email, SMS, and other forms of communication. Certainembodiments process and track communications to facilitate onlineordering of items, such as products or services. Thus, the illustratedsystem architecture can optionally be used to reduce the amount ofrevenue that would be lost by affiliates should a consumer decide tocall an advertiser to make the purchase as opposed to ordering the itemonline via the affiliate Website. Additionally, the illustrated systemarchitecture can optionally be used to increase the amount of revenuegenerated from offline or online advertising by including promotionalcontact information in the offline or online media.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a consumer terminal 400 (e.g., a generalpurpose computer, an interactive television, a phone with data networkcapability, a networked game console, etc.) is coupled to an affiliatevia an affiliate system 200 (which optionally hosts a website on a webserver) over a network (e.g., the Internet). The affiliate system 200 iscoupled over a network (e.g., the Internet) with an affiliate networkvia affiliate network system 100. The affiliate network system 100includes a network interface, a server 9, and an affiliate networksoftware platform 10 which executes on the server 9. The affiliatenetwork software platform 10 includes a frontend 11, which communicateswith the affiliate system 200 and with an advertiser system 300 (whichincludes a website 302 hosted on a web server, a call queue program 301,and a user terminal).

The affiliate network system 100 includes a backend 12. The backend 12includes phone number mapping software 13, a text to speech system 14,and a sound/speech recognition system 15. The server 9 is coupled via anetwork to a control center system 20, which includes software 21.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, in an example embodiment, the advertiser, viathe advertiser system 300 logs into affiliate network software platform10. The frontend software 11 is responsible for rendering the html codethat the web browser of an advertiser or affiliate interprets. Thebackend software 12 is responsible for performing some or all of theprocessing, mapping, and database operations of the affiliate networkwebsite 302. The phone number mapping routine 13 included in the backendsoftware 12 is responsible for mapping a promotional phone number todestination phone number 141 (as discussed in greater detail below withrespect to FIGS. 12 & 13). The text to speech processing routine 14 isresponsible for creating audio files of the text entered into the IVRroutine of FIG. 15. The sound recognition routine 15 enables the backend12 to recognize voice commands or telephone key tones for example. Inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the control center 20 can routeinformation, software, or permissions to the affiliate network system100 using its own control center software 21.

In an example embodiment, the platform software 10 and the controlcenter software 21 run by the affiliate network system 100 and thecontrol center 20 perform some or all of the following functions: anadvertiser function, as illustrated in FIG. 4, an affiliate function, asillustrated in FIG. 21, an affiliate network system function, asillustrated in FIG. 28, and a control center 20 function (not shown.)

Once logged in, the advertiser can view various types of information ona home screen user interface 30, such as that illustrated in FIG. 4,view various campaign information (see, for example, FIG. 5) or create anew advertising campaign through the create a new campaign module 23(see, for example, FIG. 5), view various report information with theview campaign module (see, for example, FIG. 6), modify various accountinformation through the account information module 14′ (see, forexample, FIG. 8), obtain help, logout (see, for example, FIG. 9), orsearch for various affiliates. In some embodiments the advertiser maymake use of the call queue program 301 to queue incoming calls,optionally based on the caller quality (see, for example, target profilesubmodule 160 FIG. 10).

Referring to FIG. 4, a home screen user interface 30 of the advertisersystem 300 optionally includes a notification module 31, a recent callsmodule 32, and/or a quick stats module 33. Data displayed via thevarious user interfaces may be read from computer readable memory. Thenotification module 31 may be used to display a notification to theadvertiser. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, two types of examplenotifications are illustrated: an expiration notice 34 and anapplication notice 35. Other types of notifications can be provided aswell. The recent calls module 32 informs the advertiser 300 of therecent calls made by customers 400. The quick status module 33 showsinformation, such as the number of calls made by consumer 400, thequality of the calls, and cost of the calls (e.g., the cost to theadvertiser). The data displayed via the user interface illustrated inFIG. 4 may have been transmitted via the affiliate network system 100 tothe advertiser system 300.

When the affiliate logs in via an affiliate system (e.g., including aserver and user terminal), he or she is presented with a home screenuser interface, an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 21. The datadisplayed via the user interface illustrated in FIG. 4 may have beentransmitted via the affiliate network system 100 to the affiliate system(such as affiliate system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2). On the home screen200′, a notification module 41, campaign viewing module 42, a campaignapplication module 47, and/or a quick stats module 49 are provided. Thenotification module 41 can be used to inform the affiliate of newcampaigns posted by advertisers 300, and transmit an alert to theaffiliate system 200 if the advertiser 300 accepts the affiliate'sapplication to the campaign. The campaign viewing module 42 allows theaffiliate to view campaigns that have been applied and campaigns thathave been accepted by the advertiser, as well as optionally campaignsthat have been rejected.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 21, all the campaigns have beenaccepted, but the word “applied”, for example, could be used to indicatecampaigns that have been applied to but not accepted. The campaignapplication module 47 provides the affiliate the ability to viewcampaigns that have been made visible to the affiliate 200 via theaffiliate network 100 or the advertiser 300 through the campaignvisibility module 56′. Advertisers 300 and affiliate networks 100 may beprovided with a campaign visibility control 56 illustrated in FIG. 28,which enables the advertiser 300 or affiliate network 100 to restrictthe campaigns that affiliates 200 can view. The campaign visibilitymodule 56′ is described in more detail with respect to FIG. 29. Thequick status module 49 illustrated in FIG. 21 enables the affiliate toquickly monitor the amount and nature of calls his or her promotionalactivity has generated as well the resulting commissions due.

When the affiliate network operator logs in the affiliate network 100(see FIG. 1A), the operator is presented with a home screen 100′, anexample of which is illustrated in FIG. 28. This home screen userinterface 100′ may provide the affiliate network operator 100 with aview network status module 51, a view advertisers module 54, and/or aview affiliates module 55. When the affiliate network system operatorclick on a link (or other activation controls) in the view advertisersmodule 54, the new page delivered to the affiliate's computer may be thesame as, or similar to the home screen user interface 30 of theadvertiser 300 illustrated in FIG. 4. Similarly the affiliate can clickon a link in the affiliate's module 55, and the new page delivered tothe affiliate network's computer may be the same as the home screen userinterface 200′ of the affiliate, an example of which is illustrated inFIG. 21.

When the control center operator logs in, the control center operator ispresented with a home screen user interface (not shown) which enablesthe control center operator to view the home screen user interfaces ofthe various affiliate networks 100. In some embodiments there may bemore than one control center 20 (e.g., located in different geographicareas, such as different states or cities, or located in the same area)and more than one control center operator. In the example embodimentshown in FIG. 2, there is one control center 20, and three affiliatenetworks 100, although there can be additional control centers and feweror more affiliate networks 100. An affiliate network 100 is associatedwith one or more advertisers (which in turn are associated with one ormore advertiser systems 300) and affiliates (which in turn areassociated with one or more affiliate systems 200). In the embodimentshown in FIG. 2, several advertisers and affiliates are registered withmore than one affiliate networks (which in turn are associated with oneor more affiliate network systems 100).

The Add New Campaign Module

As shown in FIG. 5, the advertiser has the ability to add a newadvertising/affiliate campaign using the add new campaign module orbutton/control 23. As shown in FIG. 10, in an example embodiment of thenew campaign software module 23, the advertiser 300 is presented with aform or a help wizard tool which provides the advertiser 300 with thefollowing submodules: overview 110, call pricing 120, target regions130, call treatment 140, hours 150, target profile 160, keywords 170,and creatives 180. FIGS. 10-20 illustrate example user interfacecorresponding to these submodules). Fewer, additional or differentsubmodules may be used.

With reference to FIG. 10, in the overview submodule 110, the advertisercan enter information such as campaign name in a campaign name field111, network information in a network information field 112, product,services, or category information in a product, services, or categoryfield 113, and campaign description in a campaign description field 114.A campaign name may be used to identify the campaign. Product, services,or categories enables affiliates to look for campaigns by their type(handbags, computers, legal service, etc.) Campaign description providesinformation to affiliate such as information concerning the advertiser,the terms and conditions of the advertisement, and details about thecampaign requested.

In the call pricing submodule 120, the advertiser 300 has the ability tochoose either fixed call pricing 131, or a dynamic call pricing 132(e.g., based on call quality). As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 11,the advertiser 300 can choose separate prices for high 136, medium 137,and low 138 quality calls. (While the specification describes threelevels of quality, high, medium, and low, different quality labels canbe used wherein each label is optionally priced differently. Forexample, quality labels 1-100 can be assigned based on different callcriteria. Optionally, call quality labels are not assigned. For example,the call quality and price can be determined by certain call criteriabeing achieved during a call.) The backend or processing section 12 ofthe website running on the affiliate network server or the controlcenter 20 server uses a novel method of determining call quality whichis discussed in the section relating to submodule 160, FIG. 10. Dynamiccall pricing enables advertisers to price calls differently based onspecific call criteria (e.g., the time of day of the call, call length,caller responses to interactive voice response menus, caller gestures(e.g., selection of a specific advertisement), spoken keywords, etc.)Calls can optionally be priced the same or differently for differentpublishers even if the call criteria is the same. Optionally, fixed callpricing is established at a base price per call and bonuses are added ontop of the fixed per call price if certain call criteria are met. Thecall pricing submodule 120, also may comprise a call price calculator133 which aids the advertiser in determining the call price. By askingthe advertiser 300 what percentage of calls are converted into sales134, and what is the maximum amount of compensation the advertiser iswilling to pay 135, see FIG. 12, the call price calculator, whichreceives and provides data for display via price calculator userinterface 133 can use this information to suggest high 136, medium 137,and low 138 call pricing. Other call price distribution systems such as1 star-5 star rating are also contemplated. The calculator can use avariety of algorithms to perform this calculation. For example, thecalculator might set the high call price 136 to be equal to maximum theadvertiser is willing to pay 135. The calculator may determine themedium call price 137 by multiplying the percentage of calls convertedinto sales 134 by the maximum the advertiser is willing to pay 135. Thecalculator may further determine the low call price 138 by halving themedium call price 137. The determinations can be displayed by thecalculator via calculator user interface 133. Other techniques may beused.

In the target regions submodule 130, the advertiser 300 can restrict thegeographic regions from which it wishes to receive calls. Additionally,in certain embodiments, particular regions within the country(ies) canbe chosen as well. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the advertiser300 can restrict calls to specific regions 131 such as states orspecific cities in states, time zones 132. As will be discussed in calltreatment submodule 140, the advertiser 300 enters a destination phonenumber 1141. As described in the campaign application module 47, seeFIG. 21, the affiliate 200 requests a promotional phone number (in someembodiments a toll free phone number) from the affiliate network 100 orfrom the control center 20. The phone number mapping routine 13 (FIG. 1)maps the promotional phone number to the destination phone number 141using the phone number mapping routine 13 (in some embodiments, thecontrol center's server may include the phone number mapping routine.)This routine causes the server 9 to route calls coming into thepromotional phone number to the destination phone number 1141. Throughthis optional mechanism, the affiliate network 100 or the control center20 never actually transfers ownership or control of the originationphone number to the advertiser 300 or affiliate 200, but rather itprovides the affiliate 200 with a revocable ability to use thepromotional phone number for advertising. In some embodiment the controlcenter 20 may transfer a group of promotion numbers to the affiliatenetwork 100. Through this mechanism a promotional phone number may beassigned on the internet (e.g., to an advertising campaign for a productor service). In some embodiments, the promotional phone number can beassigned immediately, without intervention by personnel working for theaffiliate network 100 or the control center 20. Optionally, the phonenumber is also activated and ready to receive calls substantiallyimmediately (e.g., with 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours). Theaffiliate network 100 or control center 20 can maintain control over thepromotional phone number at all times and can terminate routing thepromotional phone number to the destination phone number for whateverreason the affiliate network 100 or the control center 20 may deemnecessary.

In the call treatment submodule 140, the advertiser 300 can set howincoming calls to the destination phone number 141 are treated. See FIG.14. In the single destination routine 147, advertisers 300 can choose tohave calls recorded 142 or have SMS marketing messages 143 transmittedto the consumers 400. An advertiser can setup a promotional code 144 andadvertising message 145 to be sent to the consumer's 400 mobile phone,Skype phone, or computerized phone equipment. This method of generatingone or more SMS messages and codes which can be sent to a consumer,allows the advertiser to dynamically change the messages sent or codespromoted by simply editing this campaign setting. Additionally, theadvertiser can send advertisements at a later time 146 (such as the nextday, week, or month) to increase the number of sales generated.Optionally the SMS messages contain a promotional number which may becalled by the user. Additionally, in the IVR tree routine 148, anadvertiser can set up an IVR system (interactive voice system) whichallows an advertiser to provide customers the ability to operate a voicemenu system. In an embodiment of the IVR routine 148, as shown in FIG.15, the advertiser can use the system to route calls made to promotionalphone number to different agents. For example, in the embodiment show inFIG. 15, the consumer 400 can press one to speak with Agent 1, or presstwo to speak with Agent 2. In some embodiments the sound recognitionroutine 15 of the backend can be designed to recognize the spoken words“one” or “two” in addition to key tones. The text to speech processingroutine 14 converts the text shown in text box 149 a. Upon pressing“one” in the embodiment shown in FIG. 15, the backend 12 will connect149 b the calling consumer 400 with Agent 1 by bridging the call toAgent 1's telephone number 149 c. Pressing “two”, will bring up a newmenu 149 d which allows the calling consumer 400 to call either Agent2's cell or work phone. The “add new route” button or hyperlink 149 eallows additional options to be created such as a third destination tocall Agent 3, for example.

In the hours submodule 150, the advertiser can set the times each day itwishes to receive calls. FIG. 16. Setting the time in this submodule mayallow the advertiser 300 to avoid paying affiliate commissions at hourswhen the advertiser 300 is not in business for example. Moreover, thisfeature may allow the advertiser to route calls to voicemail or to hometelephone numbers when the advertiser is closed.

In the target profile submodule 160, the advertiser 300 can set variouscriteria to be used in the determining whether a customer is high,medium, or low quality. FIG. 10. The target profile criteria 162 mayinclude subcriteria such as gender, age, household income, maritalstatus, education, ethnicity, and calling from number. Much of the dataused to evaluate these subcriteria can be obtained through looking upthe consumer phone number against demographic data bases. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 18 clicking on the show all field 161 expandsall the fields and display the screen shot shown in FIG. 18. In thisexample embodiment, clicking on an individual checkbox expands theparticular subcriteria selected. As shown in FIG. 18, the advertiser 300may decide that the gender 163 for example is important in determiningwhether the particular customer 400 calling is a high, medium, or lowquality caller. For example if the advertiser 300 is selling makeup, theadvertiser may choose to place the slider high for women and low or nonefor men. This allows advertisers 300 to communicate to affiliates moreeffectively about which customers might purchase the advertisers 300goods and services. In certain embodiments, the advertisers may be ableuse these subcriteria to filter out certain customers completely. Incases, such as gender, women might be much more likely to purchase anitem than men, and the advertiser 300 may be willing to pay more for thesales lead if a woman calls as opposed to a man for example. Thesubcriteria of age, household income, marital status, education,ethnicity, and calling from may be similarly be used to determine thequality of the consumer.

Advertisers 300 can make use of the call quality of consumers in avariety of ways. First, as previously explained, advertisers 300optionally set different payment amounts for high, medium, and lowquality calls. Second, advertisers 300 optionally route certain qualitycalls to their stronger salespersons to increase the likelihood ofconsummating the sale. Moreover, the particular demographic informationcould be used to pair an appropriate salesperson to the particularcustomer. For example, using available sales statistics, the advertiser300 may decide that a single male in the 25-34 age range would morelikely buy products from the advertiser 300 if the agent who answers thecall is a single female in the 18-34 age range. Third, Advertisers 300optionally setup their call queuing software to bump higher qualitycallers up in the queue to reduce the higher quality caller's wait time.Some advertisers 300 use a call queue program to queue customers' callsso that customers do not receive voicemail or a busy signal. Rather theyare placed in a call queue, which allows the advertiser 300 to answerthe caller as soon as an agent is made available.

In the keywords submodule 170, advertiser 300 can also specify certainkeywords that the backend sound recognition routine 15 can identify forthe purpose of rating calls. Certain keywords such as competitor names,product names or types can be identified to establish the quality of thecaller. Similarly the utterance of certain words by the consumer 400 mayestablish dissatisfaction with the product, advertiser, or agent. Insome embodiments, the sound recognition routine 15 can distinguishbetween the voice of the consumer and that of the advertiser, either bysound or by receiving information relating to the source of the sound(i.e. from which phone number/call leg the voice is received.) In theembodiment just described, the keywords submodule 170 determines callquality during and after the call from the consumer 400 is made, and thetarget profile submodule 160 can begin determining call quality once theconsumer 400 calls the advertiser 300.

In the creatives submodule 180, the advertiser 300 can upload a creative180′ such as an image or a banner for use by the affiliate 200 incampaigning for the advertiser 300. As explained later in the sectiondiscussing the creative module 180, the affiliate may have the option toadd the promotional phone number to this creative to improve theaffiliate's promotional ability. The done button 181 can be selected tosave the entered information into the campaign. Similarly when editingthe campaign 24 the done button saves the changes made to the campaign24.

Measuring and Tracking Call Quality

In certain embodiments, users of the software platform 10 may be able toutilize call quality techniques to improve their advertising experience.Accurately determining call quality may be useful for the advertiser 300as it may provide the advertiser 300 with a way of rewarding theaffiliate 200 with additional compensation for good quality calls, whileat the same time allowing the advertiser 300 to avoid paying highcommission fees for lower quality calls. Through adjusting the varioustarget profile subcriteria in the target profile submodule 160, theadvertiser may enable the software platform 10 to determine demographicinformation about the customer 400. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 17,the advertiser 300 can adjust sliders to increase the weight associatedwith the customer having certain demographic subcriteria, but alternatemethods of saving this information optionally might be used.Additionally, the advertiser 300 can use the keyword submodule 170 toenable the software platform to determine the quality of the call. Whencustomers/consumers 400 or advertisers 300 use these keywords, thesoftware platform can monitor or record their enunciation andappropriately raise the quality of the call. In some embodiments, thesoftware platform 10 might utilize algorithms to adjust the significanceof the utterance of the keyword based upon the syntax (position in thesentence), voice modulation (is the keyword stressed in the sentence),repetition, variants of the keyword (ice skating vs. ice skates forexample), or use of synonyms for the keyword. The software platform 10may also suggest possible keywords, or check the spelling of keywords.Through analyzing the various scores generated through the targetprofile information and the keyword information, the backend 12 of thesoftware platform 10 can assign a quality rating to the call.

In certain embodiments, affiliates 200 may be informed of the varioussubcriteria and keywords set in the campaign, and in other embodimentsthis information may be kept from the affiliate 200. In embodimentswhere this information is disclosed, the affiliate 200 can use theinformation to modify how the advertiser's 300 goods and services aremarketed. Another benefit of the call quality feature in certainembodiments, is that it may reward those affiliates 200 that provideadvertisers 300 with better customer leads or more sales, while placinga disincentive to the affiliate 200 to provide the advertiser 300 withlower quality calls.

Additional Features of the Advertiser Function

The advertiser can view an advertising report by clicking on the reportbutton 36, FIG. 4. This brings up the advertiser report module shown inFIG. 6. Through clicking on the details button 36′, the advertiser canfind additional details about the campaign progress, FIG. 7.

FIG. 5 shows the view campaign module 13′ which allows the advertiser300 to view various campaigns 24.

FIG. 8 shows how the advertiser can modify his or her accountinformation. Embodiments of present invention may include the ability toinvite additional members or users under a particular advertisersaccount.

The advertiser optionally is provided with a referral customizationmodule (not shown), which allows the advertiser 300 to specify time ofday, particular days, or duration of time in which it will payreferrals. This referral customization module can also be used tospecify whether the advertiser would like click-to-call functionalityenabled on their website. If so, the click-to-call functionality may beenabled so that an affiliate information object passes the affiliate'sinformation into the click-to-call dialogue box.

Additionally, advertisers may be provided with a self-promote module(not shown), which allows advertiser's to act as their own affiliate orfor monitoring the effectiveness of their own advertising techniqueswhich may be managed directly or not through an affiliate 200. Usingthis self-promote module, the advertiser is provided access to apromotional phone number, promotional email (not shown), etc, which isrouted to the advertiser's 300 destination phone number. In such aself-promote module, the advertiser might still be charged fees for theuse of data tracking features and call routing features of the affiliatenetwork 100 or the control center 20.

Affiliate Function

When the affiliate logs in via system 200, the home screen 200′ ispresented to the affiliate, an example of which is illustrated in FIG.21. Here, the affiliate can view pending campaigns, search for newcampaigns, view commissions earned, join or link accounts, etc.Submodules may be available to the affiliate 200 through the affiliatefunction 200′, such as the number creation submodule 44, the creativemodification submodule 45, the reports submodule 46, and the linkcustomization module, FIG. 25.

Clicking on the number creation submodule 44 allows the affiliate 200 toassign a promotional phone number so that the affiliate network 100 orthe control center 20 routes calls to a promotional phone number to thedestination phone number 141 of the advertiser 300. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 24, the affiliate may set the type of advertisement(business publication, direct mail, free standing insert, magazine,radio, television, internet, bulletin board, etc), a description of thepromotion, and a network SID (security identifier.) In some embodiments,the affiliate can assign multiple numbers to one campaign in order todetermine efficacy of the promotional materials.

Clicking on the creative modification submodule 45 allows the affiliateto add a promotion phone number, email address, or other contactinformation to the creative 180′. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 25,the creative modification submodule allows the affiliate 200 to embed aparticular promotional number into creative 180′.

The reporting submodule 46 is illustrated in FIG. 26. Clicking on thedetails button 46 a causes the detailed record submodule 46′ to bedisplayed, FIG. 27.

The link customization module may be used by the affiliate 200 tospecify the information contained in the affiliate information object.In some embodiments, the affiliate information object may containinformation such as the affiliate's name, ID, the campaign name & ID,the address of the webpage hosting the creative, link, or URL, time &date, promotional phone number, promotional email address, promotionalmailing address, and the IP address of the customer 400. The affiliateinformation object may be used by the advertiser 300 for modifying thedisplayed contact information on the advertiser's website 302. THECUSTOMER EXPERIENCE section below provides still additional details.

Affiliate Network Function

The affiliate network function 100′ may allow an affiliate network 100to view and or modify the agreements and campaigns of the advertisers300 and affiliates 200, see, by way of illustration, the user interfacein FIG. 28. For example an affiliate network 100 may have the ability tocreate or modify a campaign for an advertiser 300. Also, an affiliatenetwork may also be able to apply to campaigns on behalf of an affiliateor setup promotional phone numbers for example. In other cases, anaffiliate network 100 may apply and accept the campaigns it creates. Insome embodiments of the present invention, the affiliate networkparticipants may have some, all or most of the rights and privileges asboth the advertisers and affiliates. When the affiliate network 100 logsin, it is presented with the home screen 100′, FIG. 28. The home screen100′ may allow the affiliate network 100 to monitor or modify any of thecampaigns and agreements of its affiliates 200 or advertisers 300 byclicking on a particular advertiser 54 or affiliate 55. The affiliatenetwork 100 may also have the ability to use a campaign visibilitymodule 56′. This module 56′ may allow the affiliate network 100 to viewand or modify the visibility of an advertiser's campaign so that onlycertain affiliates 200 can view the campaign 24, FIG. 29. Clicking onthe affiliate link 25, brings up the change affiliates submodule 26,FIG. 30, which allows the affiliate network 100 to change whichaffiliates can view the campaign. An advertiser can also view its owncampaign visibility module, FIG. 31.

The Campaign Approval and Visibility Process

In an embodiment of the present invention, advertisers 300 can create anadvertising campaign 24 using the add new campaign module 23, FIG. 5.Once created, the advertiser 300 may have the option to select whichaffiliates 200 will be able to view the campaigns 24, FIG. 30. Clickingon the view affiliates hyperlink or button 1125, see FIG. 31, allows theadvertiser 300 to change which affiliates 200 can view which campaign.Advertisers may restrict campaign visibility in order to offer certainaffiliates 200 special pricing because of the quality or uniqueness oftheir services. Additionally, advertisers might not want to publish thatthey pay higher rates to certain affiliates 200, and the changeaffiliates submodule 26, (see for example, FIG. 30) enables theadvertiser 300 to select which affiliates 200 can view their campaigns24.

Once the campaign 24 is created and the visibility is set, theaffiliate, via system 200, may browse and apply to the campaign byselecting a campaign in the campaign application module 47, see FIG. 21.Clicking on one of the campaigns 48 in the campaign application module47, brings up the affiliate campaign viewing module 48 a of FIG. 22.From the affiliate campaign viewing module 48 a the affiliate can viewvarious types of information relating to the campaign such as campaignoverview, call quality and target profile, campaign pricing, campaigncreative, and application terms. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 22, theaffiliate can click on the check box 48 b and click the agree button 48c to apply to the campaign.

Once the affiliate clicks the agree button 48 c, the advertiser 300 willbe notified that an affiliate 200 has applied to the campaign 24 via thenotification module 31. To accept or reject the application, theadvertiser 300 can click on the application notice 35, see for exampleFIG. 4. Clicking on the notice 35 causes the server of the affiliatenetwork system 100 or the control center 20, to initiate the acceptancemodule 49′, FIG. 23. Through the acceptance module 49′, the advertisercan choose to accept or deny the affiliate's application to the campaign24.

The Customer Experience

In some embodiments of the present invention, an emphasis may be placedon ensuring that customer/consumer 400 (the potential buyer of theadvertiser's goods or services) does not need to be at all aware of theentire software platform 10 used to reward the affiliate who brought thecustomer 400 to the advertiser's corporate website 302. There areseveral ways an affiliate 200 may induce a customer 300 to visit anadvertiser's website 302. In some embodiments, an affiliate mightbroadcast an email or SMS, place an outbound call, or publish a website,magazine, or newspaper whose subject matter interests the reader.Magazines, newspapers, flyers, or television commercials might list thepromotional phone number or email address of the advertiser in theadvertisement. Affiliates might provide click through advertisementswhich also include a copy of the promotional phone number or emailaddress on the advertisement. URL, links, or creatives 180′ may also beplaced on these websites and publications to an advertiser's website. AURL is the complete or incomplete website listing, such ashttp://www.retailer.com. Links can be hypertext or pictures which, whenclicked, send a command to the customer's web browser to change thecurrent page the customer's web browser is viewing. Creatives 180′, madethrough the creative module 180, are pictures or images that theadvertiser 300 would like the affiliate 200 to use in marketing itsproducts or services. In some embodiments, the affiliate can link thepromotional phone number with the creative 180′, by using the creativemodification submodule 45, see FIG. 25. The promotional phone number maybe linked by embedding the number into the meta data or filename of thecreative 180′, physically editing the image of the creative 180′ todisplay the promotional phone number, or appending the promotional phonenumber to the top, side, or bottom of the creative 180′. Either thecustomer dials the promotional phone number from the creative 180′, orclicks on the URL, link, or creative which causes the customer's webbrowser to display the advertiser's website 302 or initiate a call to apromotional number.

Ordinarily, when the customer's web browser switches to the advertiser'swebsite, the advertiser's contact information is displayed prominentlyon the website 302, so that if the customer decides to call theadvertiser instead of buying online, the referral by the affiliate 200is lost. To overcome this problem, an embodiment may be designed so thatthe link, URL, or creative passes an affiliate information object to theadvertiser's website 302. This affiliate information object may containa variety of information which can be customized though the linkcustomization submodule described above. When this type of informationis passed to the advertiser's website 302, the advertiser's website candetermine which affiliate 200 caused the customer 400 to visit theadvertiser's website 302. The advertiser's website then executes acontact information modulation routine (optionally downloaded from thesystem) which causes the website to display the promotional phone numberselected by the affiliate 200. Thus, if the customer 400 calls thepromotional phone number listed on the advertiser's website the numberis routed through an affiliate network 100 or control center 20 and theaffiliate 200 is given proper credit for the referral. The contactinformation modulation routine may be embodied as a software package(optionally downloaded from the system) that causes the contactinformation on the advertiser's webpage to change from their defaultvalues to a value specified by the affiliate information object.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the contact informationmodulation routine may also validate the affiliate's 200 accountinformation with the affiliate network 100 or the control center 20.Advertisers may wish to validate the affiliate's account before payingcommissions to make sure the campaign is still active and that affiliateis authorized to charge the advertiser 300 for referrals.

Operating Environment and Process Flow

FIG. 32 illustrates an example Affiliate Network Call Bridging System(ANCB system) 1005. As illustrated, the ANCB system is connected orconnectable to a plurality of consumers/customers/users 400 and theuser's mobile phones 1200. The mobile phones 1200 are connected to aphone (wireless) network 3000 and data network 4000. Optionally,wireline phones (not shown in FIG. 32) are connected to a phone(wireline) network 3000. Optionally, the ANCB system includes theAffiliate Network 100 and Control Center 20, see, for example, FIG. 1.

As further illustrated, the ANCB system 1005 interacts with a pluralityof advertiser and affiliate computer/data terminals 1300 and 1310,respectively. The data/computer terminals 1300 and 1310 can be apersonal computer having a monitor, keyboard, memory, and a datacommunication interface. In addition, the computer terminal 1300 and1310 can be an interactive television, a networked-enabled personaldigital assistant (PDA) or the like. The data/computer terminals 1300and 1310 are connected to a data network 4000 (e.g., the Internet or acorporate LAN or WAN). The data network 4000 includes wireline datanetworks (like the public Internet accessed using dialup or DSL/cablemodems) and wireless data networks (e.g., wireless mobile and WiFi datanetworks).

As further illustrated, the ANCB system 1005 integrates with a pluralityof customer service and/or sales agents 200 via the phone network 3000and data network 4000. Optionally, the agents 3200 have awireline/wireless phone and/or a phone headset 220 used to communicatewith customer's/user's 400.

The ANCB system's 1005 servers 600 and 800 are interconnected eitherthrough Data Network 4000 or via a private Local Area Network (LAN) orprivate Wide Area Network (WAN) 450—as shown by the solid lineconnections in FIG. 32.

The ANCB system 1005 in this example contains centralized databases 900and/or general-purpose storage area, optionally including, but notlimited to, some or all of the following: an advertiser, affiliate,affiliate network account database, configured campaigns and campaignattributes, phone numbers/addresses, call routing rules, call records,call recordings, advertising creatives, etc.

The ANCB system 1005 in this example can optionally access externaldatabases 950 through the data network 4000. For example, the ANCBoptionally queries external databases to collect additional informationabout a caller using the caller's phone address.

The ANCB system 1005 in this example contains a phone server subsystem600 with call processing and call bridging capabilities. Optionally, theservers bridge calls between users, advertisers (e.g., advertiser's callcenter), and/or third parties (e.g., an outsourced call center). Usercalls optionally are received by (inbound) or originated from (outbound)the phone server subsystem 600. Additionally, advertiser/third partycalls are received by (inbound) or originated from (outbound) the phoneserver subsystem 600. For example, a call center agent places a call tothe phone server subsystem 600 and the phone server subsystem originatesan outbound call to a user who expressed an interest in a product orservice, or in response to a gesture on a web-page (e.g.,click-to-call). These servers 600 optionally provide interactive voiceresponse, voice messaging, voice recognition, text-to-speech servicesand voice message transcription to natural-language text. Optionally,the phone server's services (e.g., text-to-speech) utilized in a callare configurable (e.g., a specific interactive voice response tree orsub-menu) and may be determined based on attributes of the caller orcalled party or other call quality criteria (e.g., time-of-day, terminaldevice of caller or called party, etc.).

The ANCB system 1005 in this example contains a web server and generalpurpose server subsystem 800 with web serving and general computingcapabilities.

In this example, the ANCB system 1005 servers 600 and 800 are optionallycentralized at a given location, or distributed to a number oflocations. The ANCB system 1005 can be implemented as a standalonesystem (e.g., an ANCB system used by a number of service providers) orthe ANCB system can be integrated into a service provider's internalsystems (e.g., an affiliate network). Optionally, the ANCB system 1005is connected to a data communication network 4000 and awireline/wireless network 3000. The ANCB system 1005 interconnects withthe wireline/wireless network 3000 using telecommunication interfaces(e.g., SS7) and via data communication networks 4000 using a securerouter subsystem and an SMS server subsystem which optionally serves asa mail relay to transmit and receive SMS and MMS messages via a ShortMessage Service Center (e.g., an SMSC operated by a network carrier).

Example Embodiments of Workflows

FIGS. 33 through 38 illustrate example workflows of operation of theexample ANCB system 1005 discussed above. Process states are listed onthe left and elements of the operating environment of FIG. 32 are listedacross the top.

FIGS. 33-38 depicts an example embodiment of the system where a producerof baby fans, the advertiser 300, enlists an affiliate 200 to promotetheir fans to consumers 400. The embodiment below describes how theproducer/advertiser 300 creates a campaign and makes the campaignavailable to an affiliate 200. The affiliate then assigns a phone numberto the campaign and integrates the phone number into the affiliate's website. A user/consumer 400 then places a call to the phone number and isconnected to the baby fan manufacturer's call center. The call istracked by the call bridging system and the affiliate 200 is creditedfor the call.

In the example embodiment below, the advertiser 300 previouslyregistered and created an account in the affiliate network systemdatabase 900. In addition, the affiliate 200 created an account in theaffiliate network system database 900.

State 1 of FIG. 33 An advertiser 300, the producer of baby fans in thisexample, accesses the Affiliate Network (AN) 100 web site/system 1005.In this example, the advertiser browses to the ANCB 100 web site/system1005 using a PC 1300 connected to data network 4000. Optionally, anydata networking capable device can be used by advertiser 300 includingfor example, a mobile phone 1200 with data networking capabilities.

State 2. The ANCB web hosting server 800 receives the web page URLrequest and presents an advertiser login/registration web page, see FIG.9, to the advertiser 300.

State 3. The advertiser 300 fills in their email address (or user ID) inthe email address field 1000 and password in the password field 1001 inthe web form FIG. 9 and clicks a Submit control 1002.

State 4. The server 800 receives the login requests. The accountinformation entered by the advertiser 300 is authenticated againstregistered accounts in the database 900. In this example, the accountinformation is valid and the server 800 responds by logging theadvertiser 300 into their account and displaying the advertiser homepage, see FIG. 4 for an example advertiser home page.

State 5. The advertiser 300 creates a campaign for Baby Fans. Theadvertiser 300 creates a new campaign by first selecting the campaigntab control 37 in FIG. 4.

State 6. The server 800 receives the advertiser's request. The server800 responds by displaying the Campaigns web page, see FIG. 5.

State 7. The advertiser 300 selects the new campaign control 23 in FIG.5.

State 8. The server 800 receives the advertiser's 300 request and theserver 800 responds by displaying the New Campaign web page, see FIG.10.

State 9. The advertiser 300 enters a campaign name, “Baby Fan Sale”, infield 111 and a campaign description, in field 114 of FIG. 10. Theadvertiser 300 optionally selects a product or service category“Family>Babies” using the pull down menu control 113. The advertiser 300optionally selects the “ongoing” campaign control 115. In this example,the advertiser 300 did not select a Network AID 112 or enter a Campaigndescription 114. The advertiser 300 selects the Next control 116, seeFIG. 10.

State 10. The server 800 receives the advertiser's request to create acampaign. Optionally, the server 800 ensures the campaign name is uniquefor the advertiser 300 and then creates a new campaign named “Baby FanSale” and stores the entered/selected campaign information in thedatabase 900. The server 800 next responds by displaying the CallPricing web page, FIG. 11.

State 11. From the call pricing web page the advertiser 300 specifiesoptionally whether calls are to be managed in a fixed price scheme or todepend upon call quality. In this embodiment, the advertiser 300 selectsa fixed price per call of $5 for high quality calls 136 and $1 for lowquality calls 138 of FIG. 11. The advertiser 300 optionally selects the$0.00 price for repeat callers control 11000. The advertiser 300 thenselects the Next control 11100.

State 12. The server 800 receives the advertiser's 300 campaignconfiguration data. Optionally, the server 800 stores theentered/selected campaign information in the database 900. The server800 next responds by displaying the Target Regions web page, FIG. 13.

State 13 of FIG. 34. In this example, the advertiser 300 chooses not todesignate a different call quality based upon the region a call isoriginating from. The advertiser 300 selects the All U.S. control 13000and then selects the Next control 13100, see FIG. 13.

State 14. The server 800 receives the advertiser's 300 campaignconfiguration data. Optionally, the server 800 stores theentered/selected campaign information in the database 900. The server800 next responds by displaying the Call Treatment web page, FIG. 14.

State 15. In this example, the advertiser 300 configures two separatecall treatments: a text message to be sent to caller's mobile phoneafter their call; and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) tree forincoming calls.

To configure text messaging, the advertiser 300 enters the text “Thankyou for your interest in baby fans, if you have any further questionsplease call 800-800-0000 or visit our web site www.acmebabyfans.com” infield 145 and selects the Immediately control from the pull down menu146, see FIG. 14.

State 16. The server 800 receives the advertiser's campaignconfiguration data. Optionally, the server 800 stores theentered/selected campaign information in the database 900.

State 17. The advertiser 300 next configures the system to distinguishcallers interested in infant baby fans from toddler baby fans. Dependingupon the caller's interest, calls are bridged to two different callcenters in Phoenix, Ariz.

The advertiser 300 selects the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Treecontrol 148, see FIG. 14.

State 18. The server 800 receives the advertiser's request. The server800 responds by displaying the Call treatment IVR configuration webpage, see FIG. 15.

State 19. The advertiser 300 selects “Menu” in the pull down menucontrol 149 f, see FIG. 15; enters the text “You have reached ACME babyfans. If you are interested in infant baby fans, press or say one. Ifyou are interested in toddler baby fans, press or say two.” in the textfield 149 a, see FIG. 15; selects the direct connect configurationresponse option in the pull down menu control 149 b if the userkeypresses or speaks “one”, see FIG. 15; enters the text “Now connectingto an agent handling infant baby fans, please hold.” in the text field149 g which is configured to be played after the caller keypresses thedual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) control one or speaks “one”; enters thedestination phone number of the Phoenix call center, infant baby fansdepartment 602-555-1234 in the phone number field 149 c, see FIG. 15;selects the direct connect response option in the pull down menu control149 h if the user keypresses the dtmf two or speaks “two”, see FIG. 15;enters the text “Now connecting to an agent handling toddler baby fans,please hold.” in the text field 149 i which is configured to be playedafter the caller keypresses the dtmf control two or speaks “two”, seeFIG. 15; enters the destination phone number of the Phoenix call center,toddler baby fans department 602-666-1234 in the phone number field 149k. The advertiser 300 then selects the Done control 149 j.

State 20. The server 800 receives the advertiser's 300 IVR configurationdata. Optionally, the server 800 stores the entered/selected IVRconfiguration in the database 900. The server 800 next responds bydisplaying the Hours of Operation web page, FIG. 16.

State 21. The advertiser's 300 call center is open Monday throughFriday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, and closed on theweekends. The advertiser 300 selects the closed Sunday check box control1600 and closed Saturday check box control 1610 to signify the callcenter is closed on Sunday and Saturday, see FIG. 16. The advertiser 300does not change the default open and close hours fields. The advertiser300 also selects Mountain Standard time in the time zone scroll control1620, see FIG. 16. The advertiser 300 then selects the Next control1630.

State 22. The server 800 receives the advertiser's 300 call center hoursof operation configuration data. Optionally, the server 800 stores theentered/selected hours of operation configuration in the database 900.The server 800 next responds by displaying the Target Profile web page,FIG. 17.

State 23. Based on previous market research, the advertiser 300 hasdetermined if a caller is calling from their cell phone, they are muchmore likely to purchase baby fans. In this example, the advertiser 300is willing to pay a premium for these types of calls. The advertiser 300selects the show all fields control box 161, see FIG. 17.

State 24. The server 800 receives the advertiser's request to show alltarget profile fields. The server 800 responds by displaying a new webpage depicting all of the target profile configurable fields, see FIG.18.

State 25. The advertiser 300 selects the calling from control box 164and moves the Mobile slider control 165, see FIG. 18, to High todesignate a high premium in this campaign for inbound cell phone calls.The advertiser 300 then selects the Done control 166 in FIG. 18.

State 26. The server 800 receives the advertiser's 300 target profileconfiguration data. Optionally, the server 800 stores theentered/selected target profile configuration in the database 900. Theserver 800 next responds by displaying the Preferred Keywords web page,FIG. 19.

State 27 of FIG. 35. The advertiser 300 has determined that if a callerspeaks the keyword “friend” they have a higher probability of purchasinga baby fan. For example, a caller may mention they heard about baby fanson sale from a friend. The advertiser 300 identifies the keyword for thecampaign by typing in the word “friend” in the field 170 of FIG. 19. Theadvertiser 300 then selects the Next control 171.

State 28. The server 800 receives the advertiser's 300 preferred keywordconfiguration data. Optionally, the server 800 stores theentered/selected preferred keyword configuration in the database 900.The server 800 next responds by displaying the Upload Creative web page,FIG. 20.

State 29. In this example embodiment, the advertiser 300 chooses not toupload any creatives such as a banner ad for use by the affiliate. Theadvertiser 300 selects the Done control 181 in FIG. 20.

State 30. The server 800 receives the request and optionally updates thedatabase to reflect the advertiser 300 has not selected to uploadcreative for the campaign and that the campaign is now created. With thecampaign created, the server 800 displays the Campaign home web page,see FIG. 5. The newly created campaign is displayed in the campaignsummary and is available to one or more affiliates.

Optionally, the server 800 displays a web page similar to that shown inFIG. 30 which allows the advertiser to open or restrictaccess/visibility of the campaign to certain affiliates. In this exampleembodiment, the advertiser's 300 campaigns are accessible and visible toall affiliates.

State 31. In this example embodiment, an infant newsletter web site,daycaretoday.com, is interested in becoming an affiliate 200 andpromoting baby fans. The affiliate 200 registers and becomes a member ofthe affiliate network 100 (not shown).

The affiliate 200, daycaretoday.com, accesses the affiliate network (AN)web site. In this example, the user browses to the AN web site using aPC 1310 connected to data network 4000.

State 32. The AN web hosting server 800 receives the web page URLrequest and presents an affiliate login/registration web page to theaffiliate 200, see FIG. 9.

State 33. The affiliate 200 enters their email address in the emailfield 1000 and password in the password field 1001 and selects thesubmit control 1002, see FIG. 9.

State 34. The server 800 receives the login requests. The accountinformation entered by the affiliate 200 is authenticated againstregistered accounts in the database. In this example, the accountinformation is valid and the server 800 responds by logging theaffiliate 200 into their account and displaying the affiliate home page,see FIG. 21 for an example affiliate home page.

State 35. The affiliate 200 applies to the Baby Fans campaign byselecting the apply control 48, see FIG. 21.

State 36. The server 800 receives the affiliate's 200 application forthe Baby Fans campaign request and displays a new campaign affiliateapplication web page to the affiliate 200; see FIG. 22 for an examplecampaign affiliate application web page.

State 37. The affiliate 200 reviews information about the campaign 48 a,including some or all of the campaign information established by theadvertiser 300 in the campaign creation steps detailed above. Afterreviewing the campaign details and terms and conditions, the affiliateselects the terms and condition control 48 b, and then selects the applycontrol 48 c, see FIG. 22.

State 38. The server 800 receives the affiliate application request. Theapplication request triggers a message notification event to be postedto the advertiser 300 from the notification module.

State 39 of FIG. 36. In this example, the advertiser 300 is logged intothe server 800 and notices a new notification 35, see FIG. 4. Theadvertiser 300 selects the notification message which is a link to anaffiliate 200 acceptance web page, see FIG. 23.

State 40. The server 800 receives the advertiser 300 selection requestand displays to the advertiser an affiliate approval web page, see FIG.23.

State 41. The advertiser 300 approves the affiliate 200,daycaretoday.com, application by selecting the approve control 48 d.

State 42. The server 800 receives the approved application request fromthe advertiser 300. The server 800 updates the database 900 andoptionally posts a notification message 41, see FIG. 21, to theaffiliate 200 from the notification module.

State 43. In this example, the affiliate 200, daycaretoday.com, islogged in to the server 800. The affiliate 200 reads the approvalmessage 41, see FIG. 21. Additionally, the campaign status displayed tothe affiliate 200 is in the approved/active state 43, see FIG. 21.

The affiliate 200 is now ready to manage the campaign by assigning aphone number to the campaign. The assigned phone number will be used bythe affiliate 200 in their creatives/advertisements relating to babyfans. The affiliate 200 selects the numbers control 44, see FIG. 21.

State 44. The server 800 receives the affiliate's 200 numbers requestcontrol. The server 800 queries the database 900 for one or moreconfigurable number (e.g., 5 numbers) of available phone numbers anddisplays a new web page listing these numbers and associated fields, seeFIG. 24.

State 45. The affiliate 200 selects a phone number, 866-683-1950, byselecting the control 4400 to the left of the displayed phone number,see FIG. 24. The affiliate 200 selects a media type, Internet, from apull down menu control 4410. Optionally, the affiliate 200 enters apromotional description, baby fans, in the promo description field 4420.After configuring the phone number associated with the campaign, theaffiliate 200 selects the Done control 4430, see FIG. 24.

State 46. The server 800 receives the affiliate 200 phone numberconfiguration request. In response, the server 800 updates the databasewith the number assignment to the affiliate 200 and stores the mediatype and promotional description. The server 800 then displays theaffiliate 200 home page, see FIG. 21.

State 47. The server 800 configures the phone server 600 (telephony callbridge) to begin accepting calls to the phone number 866-683-1950.

The affiliate modifies their Internet promotion (or offline promotion)of baby fans to include the phone number 866-683-1950.

State 48. A reader of the newsletter (a customer 400) who is interestedin purchasing a baby fan notices the affiliate's 200 Internet banneradvertisement for baby fans. The customer 400 places a phone call fromtheir cell phone 1200 to the number 866-683-1950. The call is routedthrough the public switched telephone network 3000 to the ANCB platform100, phone server 600.

State 49. The phone server 600 notifies the server 800 of the presentedcall along with the call signaling information associated with the call(e.g., calling and called numbers, direct call, etc.).

State 50. The server 800 queries the database 900 to determine the callhandling treatment for the call and optionally external databases 950 tocollect additional information about the caller 400 (and callingdevice/type of device) for call rating and tracking purposes. From thecalling number the server 800 determines the caller is calling from acell phone, thus, the call is noted for lead tracking purposes as apremium call.

State 51 of FIG. 37. Since the called phone number 866-683-1950 isassociated with the baby fans campaign, the call treatment is toinitially play an interactive menu to the caller. The server 800requests the phone server 600 answer the call and play the voice menuconfigured for this campaign.

State 52. The phone server 600 answers the incoming call and plays thevoice prompt to the customer/caller 400 “You have reached ACME babyfans. If you are interested in infant baby fans, press or say one. Ifyou are interested in toddler baby fans, press or say two”.

State 53. In this example, the caller presses two on their phone keypadin response to hearing the voice prompt.

State 54. The phone server 600 detects a dual tone multi-frequency tone(dtmf) two. The phone server 600 notifies the server 800 of the dtmfevent.

State 55. The server 800 requests the phone server 600 generate anoutbound call to the configured phone number/address 602-666-1234 whichis the advertiser's 300 destination phone number of the Phoenix callcenter, toddler baby fans department.

State 56. The phone server 600 generates an outbound call to the phonenumber/address 602-666-1234.

State 57. The phone server 600 detects audible ringing on the outboundcall to the call center.

State 58. The phone server 600 notifies the server 800 of the audibleringing on the outbound call to the call center.

State 59. The server 800 requests the phone server 600 bridge theinbound call from the customer/caller 400 to the outbound call to thecall center.

State 60. The phone server 600 bridges the inbound call from thecustomer/caller 400 to the outbound call to the call center 3200.

Optionally, the phone server 600 continues to monitor both legs of thecall. The call center agent asks the caller how the caller heard aboutACME baby fans. The caller said they heard about it from a friend andsaw the advertisement in a banner advertisement on the daycaretoday.comweb site.

State 61. The phone server 600 detects the keyword “friend” spoken bythe caller 400. The phone server 600 notifies the server 800 of thekeyword.

State 62. The premium keyword occurrence is logged in the database 900for the call. Optionally, a configurable number of seconds before andafter the keyword is recorded by the phone server 600 and stored in thedatabase for advertiser 300 review and auditing purposes. Optionally,the entire phone conversation is recorded and the recording is post-callanalyzed for premium keywords.

State 63 of FIG. 38. In this example, the phone server 600 detects thetermination of the call by the caller (e.g., caller hung up).

State 64. The phone server 600 notifies the server 800 of the calltermination by the caller.

State 65. In this example, the server 800 requests the phone server 600terminate the call bridge between the customer/caller 400 and the callcenter 220.

State 66. In this example, the phone server 600 terminates the inboundcall from the customer/caller 400.

State 67. In this example, the phone server 600 terminates the outboundcall to the call center 230.

State 68. The server 800 writes a call detail record to the database,the call detail record including information about the call (e.g.,length of the call, calling party ID, etc).

State 69. The call bridging platform calculates the value of the call tothe affiliate 200 and credits the affiliate 200 for the call by updatingthe database 900. In this example, the call was determined to be of highquality because the keyword “friend” was detected in the voiceconversation with the call center agent. (In this example, the call wasalso high quality because the incoming call from the caller/customeroriginated from a cell phone.) The advertiser configured high qualitycalls to be of $5 in value. Therefore, the affiliate was credited in theamount of $5 for the call.

State 70. The campaign is configured to send SMS messages if the inboundcall is from a cell phone. The server 800 composes a text message,“Thank you for your interest in baby fans, if you have any furtherquestions visit our web site www.acmebabyfans.com” and sends an SMSmessage to the customer/caller's 400 mobile phone 1200 from thenotification module. Optionally, the SMS message is sent at any point inthe call including when the caller/customer accepted the offer.Optionally, the text message includes a telephone number.

The methods and processes described above may be embodied in, and fullyautomated via, software code modules executed by one or more generalpurpose computers or processors. The code modules may be stored in anytype of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. Someor all of the methods may alternatively be embodied in specializedcomputer hardware. Further, components and tasks described herein can beimplemented as web services. Data described herein as being received orgenerated by a computer system may optionally be stored in and accessedfrom computer readable memory.

The computers described herein (including servers, terminals, phones,interactive televisions, etc.) can include one or more centralprocessing units (CPUs) that execute program code and process data,memory, including volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM)optionally for temporarily storing data and data structures duringprogram execution, and/or non-volatile memory, such as a hard discdrive, optical drive, or FLASH drive, optionally for storing programsand data, including databases, which may be referred to as a “systemdatabase,” and a wired and/or wireless network interface for accessingan intranet and/or Internet. The computers can include a display fordisplaying user interfaces, data, and the like, and one or more userinput devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, pointing device, microphoneand/or the like, used to navigate, provide commands, enter information,provide search queries, and/or the like.

In addition, conditional language, such as, among others, “can,”“could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, orotherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intendedto convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments donot include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, suchconditional language is not generally intended to imply that features,elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or moreembodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logicfor deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether thesefeatures, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed inany particular embodiment.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain exampleembodiments and applications, other embodiments and applications thatare apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, includingembodiments and applications that do not provide all of the benefitsdescribed herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure. Thescope of the inventions is defined only by the claims, which areintended to be construed without reference to any definitions that maybe explicitly or implicitly included in any incorporated-by-referencematerials.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of processing calls, comprising:assigning a first phone address to an advertising campaign in responseto a request received over a data network wherein the assigned firstphone address is included in advertisements associated with theadvertising campaign, wherein an affiliate is associated with theadvertising campaign; storing in computer memory a call quality ratingcriteria; after the first phone address is published in a firstadvertisement associated with the advertising campaign, receiving at acall bridging system coupled to at least one network, an inbound callfrom a caller, to whom the first advertisement has been presented,directed to the first phone address wherein the inbound call isassociated with call signaling information; generating an outbound callfrom the call bridging system to an advertiser associated with theadvertising campaign; bridging the inbound and the outbound call;comparing, by a computer system, one or more parameters of the inboundcall and/or the bridged call to the call quality rating criteria; andcrediting, via the computer system, the affiliate for the bridged callbased at least in part on the comparison of the one or more parameterswith the call quality rating criteria.
 2. The method as defined in claim1, the method further comprising: selecting a second phone address froma set of phone addresses to direct the outbound call to based at leastin part on the comparison of the one or more parameters with the callquality rating criteria.
 3. The method as defined in claim 1, whereinthe affiliate credit amount is determined at least in part by thecomparison of the one or more parameters with the call quality ratingcriteria.
 4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first phoneaddress is a toll-free telephone number.
 5. The method as defined inclaim 1, wherein the call quality rating criteria is established by theadvertiser or an agent of the advertiser.
 6. The method as defined inclaim 1, wherein the call quality rating criteria is established by theadvertiser.
 7. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein a first of theone or more parameters for evaluating call quality is a genderassociated with the caller.
 8. The method as defined in claim 1, whereina first of the one or more parameters for evaluating call quality is anincome associated with the caller.
 9. The method as defined in claim 1,wherein a first of the one or more parameters for evaluating callquality is a length of the call.
 10. The method as defined in claim 1,wherein a first of the one or more parameters for evaluating callquality is whether the inbound call originates from a landline home,landline business, or mobile telecommunications device.
 11. The methodas defined in claim 1, wherein the at least one network includes atelephone network.
 12. The method as defined in claim 1, the methodfurther comprising: recording at least a portion of audio of the inboundcall; and making at least a portion of the audio recording available tothe affiliate or the advertiser.
 13. The method as defined in claim 1,the method further comprising: identifying, by the computer system,words and/or phrases in a voice communication from the caller associatedwith the inbound call; comparing, by the computer system, words and/orphrases from the voice communication to a set of keywords and/orphrases; and if a match is detected by the comparison, storing incomputer memory an indication regarding the detection of a matchedkeyword and/or phrase.
 14. The method as defined in claim 13, wherein afirst of the one or more parameters compared with the call qualityrating criteria includes a matched keyword and/or phrase in the voicecommunication of the caller.
 15. The method as defined in claim 1,wherein a first of the one or more parameters compared with the callquality rating criteria is derived at least in part from the callsignaling information associated with the inbound call from the caller.16. The method as defined in claim 1, the method further comprising:comparing a phone address of the caller accessed from the call signalinginformation associated with the inbound call from the caller with atleast one calling party's phone address associated with at least oneprevious call received within a configurable time period stored incomputer readable memory; and if there is a match, crediting theaffiliate an amount wherein the amount is a default amount or a variableamount specified by the advertiser.
 17. The method as defined in claim16, wherein the amount credited to the affiliate on a match is no creditamount.
 18. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the affiliatecredit amount is a fixed amount and a dynamic call amount based at leastin part on the comparison of the one or more parameters with the callquality rating criteria.
 19. The method as defined in claim 1, whereinthe affiliate assigns the first phone address.
 20. The method as definedin claim 1, wherein a phone address associated with the outbound call isa number assigned by the advertiser accessed from computer readablememory.
 21. A method of processing call information, comprising: storingin non-transitory computer readable memory call quality rating criteria;receiving at a call bridging system coupled to at least one network, arequest over a data network from a user to receive a call; generating atthe call bridging system a first outbound call to the user; generating asecond outbound call from the call bridging system; bridging the firstand second outbound calls; comparing, by a computer system, one or moreparameters of the user and/or the first outbound call to the callquality rating criteria; and crediting, via the computer system, anaffiliate for the bridged call based at least in part on the comparisonof the one or more parameters with the call quality rating criteria. 22.The method as defined in claim 21, wherein the request from the user toreceive a call is provided via an activation of a web page control. 23.The method as defined in claim 21, the method further comprising:selecting a phone address to originate the second outbound call based atleast in part on the comparison of the one or more parameters with thecall quality rating criteria.
 24. The method as defined in claim 21,wherein the affiliate credit amount is determined at least in part bythe comparison of the one or more parameters with the call qualityrating criteria.
 25. The method as defined in claim 21, wherein one ofthe one or more parameters compared with the call quality ratingcriteria is a gender of the user.
 26. The method as defined in claim 21,wherein one of the one or more parameters compared with the call qualityrating criteria is the length of the bridged first outbound and secondoutbound call.
 27. The method as defined in claim 21, wherein one of theone or more parameters compared with the call quality rating criteria isrelated to income of the user.
 28. The method as defined in claim 21,wherein one of the one or more parameters compared with the call qualityrating criteria is whether the first outbound call to the user is to alandline home, landline business, or mobile phone.
 29. The method asdefined in claim 21, wherein the at least one network includes atelephone network.
 30. The method as defined in claim 21, the methodfurther comprising: recording at least a portion of audio of the bridgedfirst outbound and second outbound call; making at least a portion ofthe audio recording available to the affiliate or an advertiser.
 31. Themethod as defined in claim 21, the method further comprising:identifying words and/or phrases in a user's voice communicationassociated with the first outbound call; comparing words and/or phrasesfrom the user's voice communication to a set of keywords and/or phrases;and if there is a match, storing in computer memory an indicationregarding detection of a matched keyword and/or phrase.
 32. The methodas defined in claim 21, the method further comprising: storing at leasta portion of a phone address of the user in a computer readable medium.33. The method as defined in claim 21, the method further comprising:comparing a phone address of the user and user phone addresses ofprevious calls in a configurable time period stored in computer memory;if there is a match, crediting the affiliate an amount wherein theamount is a default amount or a variable amount specified by anadvertiser.
 34. The method as defined in claim 33, wherein the amountcredited to the affiliate on a match is no credit amount.
 35. The methodas defined in claim 21, wherein the second outbound call is placed to aphone address assigned by an advertiser.
 36. A method of phonecommunications, comprising: creating an information object in a serversystem; storing the information object in non-transitory computerreadable memory; assigning a phone address to the information object;making available the information object from a server of an affiliate toa server of an advertiser over a data network in response to a usergesture with respect to a web page; enabling the display of the phoneaddress to the user on web page of the advertiser; receiving at a callbridging system coupled to at least one network, a call from the userdirected to the phone address, wherein the call is associated with callsignaling information; generating first outbound call from the callbridging system to a first number specified by the advertiser; bridgingthe inbound and the first outbound call; and crediting the affiliatewith respect to the bridged call.
 37. The method as defined in claim 36,wherein the information object is an information object of theaffiliate.
 38. The method as defined in claim 36, wherein theinformation object is web-based.
 39. The method as defined in claim 36,the method further comprising: receiving at the call bridging system arequest from the user to receive a call; generating at the call bridgingsystem a first outbound call to the user; generating a second outboundcall from the call bridging system to a second number specified by theadvertiser; bridging the first outbound call to the user and the secondoutbound call; and crediting the affiliate for the bridged call.
 40. Amethod of processing telecommunications comprising: assigning a phoneaddress for use with an advertising campaign wherein the assigned phoneaddress is included in advertisements associated with the advertisingcampaign, wherein an affiliate is associated with the advertisingcampaign; after the phone address is published in a first advertisementassociated with the advertising campaign, receiving at a call bridgingsystem coupled to at least one network, an inbound call from a caller,to whom the first advertisement has been presented, directed to thephone address; generating an outbound call from the call bridging systemto a number specified in the advertising campaign; bridging the inboundand the outbound call to form a bridged call; monitoring, by a computersystem, one or more call parameters; comparing, by the computer system,one or more call parameters against a set of threshold values thatincludes at least one threshold value; rejecting, by the computersystem, at least one subsequent call to the phone address based on thecomparison exceeding a first threshold value; and crediting theaffiliate for non-rejected bridged calls and inhibiting crediting theaffiliate for rejected calls.
 41. The method as defined in claim 40,wherein the one or more call parameters includes a phone address of thecaller.
 42. The method as defined in claim 40, wherein the one or morecall parameters includes a length of the bridged call.
 43. The method asdefined in claim 40, further comprising providing to the caller a ringno answer signal, a busy signal, or a recorded announcement if theoutbound call is rejected.
 44. A method of tracking and crediting callrelated information, comprising: assigning a phone address for use withan advertising campaign wherein the assigned phone address is includedin advertisements associated with the advertising campaign, wherein anaffiliate is associated with the advertising campaign; storing in anon-transitory tangible computer readable medium a call quality ratingcriteria; after the phone address is published in a first advertisementassociated with the advertising campaign, receiving at a call bridgingsystem coupled to at least one network, an inbound call from a caller,to whom the first advertisement has been presented, directed to thephone address; based at least in part on the phone address called,playing a selected voice prompt to the caller, wherein the voice promptis selected by a computer system; generating an outbound call from thecall bridging system based at least in part on a response from thecaller to one or more voice prompts and a phone address specified by anadvertiser; bridging the inbound and the outbound call to form a bridgedcall; comparing, by the computer system, one or more parameters of theinbound call and/or the bridged call to the call quality ratingcriteria; and crediting the affiliate for the bridged call based atleast in part of the comparison.
 45. The method as defined in claim 44,wherein the response from the caller is provided via a dual-tonemulti-frequency tone.
 46. The method as defined in claim 44, wherein theresponse from the caller is provided via a spoken command.
 47. Themethod as defined in claim 44, wherein the one or more parametersincludes the response from the caller.
 48. The method as defined inclaim 46, the method further comprising: the call bridging system usingspeech recognition to determine the spoken command.
 49. A non-transitorytangible computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device,cause the computing device to perform a method comprising: assigning afirst phone address to an advertising campaign in response to a requestreceived over a data network wherein the assigned phone address isincluded in advertisements associated with the advertising campaign,wherein an affiliate is associated with the advertising campaign;storing in computer memory a call quality rating criteria; after thefirst phone address is published in a first advertisement associatedwith the advertising campaign, receiving an inbound call from a caller,to whom the first advertisement has been presented, directed to thefirst phone address wherein the inbound call is associated with callsignaling information; initiating an outbound call to an advertiserassociated with the advertising campaign; causing the inbound and theoutbound call to be connected; comparing one or more parameters of theinbound call and/or the connected call to the call quality ratingcriteria; and crediting the affiliate for the connected call based atleast in part on the comparison of the one or more parameters with thecall quality rating criteria.
 50. The tangible computer-readable mediumas defined in claim 49, the method further comprising: selecting asecond phone address from a set of phone addresses to direct theoutbound call to based at least in part on the comparison of the one ormore parameters with the call quality rating criteria.
 51. The tangiblecomputer-readable medium as defined in claim 49, wherein the affiliatecredit amount is determined at least in part by the comparison of theone or more parameters with the call quality rating criteria.
 52. Thetangible computer-readable medium as defined in claim 49, wherein thefirst phone address is a toll-free telephone number.
 53. The tangiblecomputer-readable medium as defined in claim 49, wherein the callquality rating criteria is established by the advertiser or an agent ofthe advertiser.
 54. The tangible computer-readable medium as defined inclaim 49, wherein the call quality rating criteria is established by theadvertiser.
 55. The tangible computer-readable medium as defined inclaim 49, wherein a first of the one or more parameters is a genderassociated with the caller.
 56. The tangible computer-readable medium asdefined in claim 49, wherein a first of the one or more parameters is anincome associated with the caller.
 57. The tangible computer-readablemedium as defined in claim 49, wherein a first of the one or moreparameters is a length of the call.
 58. The tangible computer-readablemedium as defined in claim 49, wherein a first of the one or moreparameters is whether the inbound call originates from a landline home,landline business, or mobile telecommunications device.
 59. The tangiblecomputer-readable medium as defined in claim 49, wherein the at leastone network includes a telephone network.
 60. The tangiblecomputer-readable medium as defined in claim 49, the method furthercomprising: recording at least a portion of audio of the inbound call;and making at least a portion of the audio recording available to theaffiliate or the advertiser.
 61. The tangible computer-readable mediumas defined in claim 49, the method further comprising: identifying wordsand/or phrases in a voice communication from the caller associated withthe inbound call; comparing words and/or phrases from the voicecommunication to a set of keywords and/or phrases; and if a match isdetected by the comparison, storing in computer memory an indicationregarding the detection of a matched keyword and/or phrase.
 62. Thetangible computer-readable medium as defined in claim 61, wherein afirst of the one or more parameters compared with the call qualityrating criteria includes a matched keyword and/or phrase in the voicecommunication of the caller.
 63. The tangible computer-readable mediumas defined in claim 49, wherein a first of the one or more parameterscompared with the call quality rating criteria is derived at least inpart from the call signaling information associated with the inboundcall from the caller.
 64. The tangible computer-readable medium asdefined in claim 49, the method further comprising: comparing a phoneaddress of the caller accessed from the call signaling informationassociated with the inbound call from the caller with at least onecalling party's phone address associated with at least one previous callreceived within a configurable time period stored in computer readablememory; and if there is a match, crediting the affiliate an amountwherein the amount is a default amount or a variable amount specified bythe advertiser.
 65. The tangible computer-readable medium as defined inclaim 49 wherein the affiliate credit amount is a fixed amount and adynamic call amount based at least in part on the comparison of the oneor more parameters with the call quality rating criteria.
 66. The methodas defined in claim 1, wherein the computer system comprises the callbridging system.
 67. The method as defined in claim 21, wherein thecomputer system comprises the call bridging system.
 68. The method asdefined in claim 40, wherein the computer system comprises the callbridging system.
 69. The method as defined in claim 44, wherein thecomputer system comprises the call bridging system.